Pairing one of today’s most gifted jazz guitarists (Anthony Pirog) with one of rock ‘n’ roll’s fiercest rhythm sections (Brendan Canty and Joe Lally) was always going to be a recipe for success, but on their sophomore LP Anthropocosmic Nest, Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics are blowing past the old goals and delivering one of the most raucous and satisfying releases of the year. Wildly inventive with surprises awaiting the listener at every turn, Nest is an ecstatic proclamation of skronk-and-circumstance that says not only are The Messthetics BACK, but they’re here to stay!

Freddie Gibbs aka the Baby Face Killa’s roots lie in Gary, Indiana, but the Midwest veteran sounds like he’s plucked from the tree of hip-hop’s most influential artists from various regions. The gangsta grit of Three Six Mafia sprinkled with the southern flair of Scarface, and lyrical prowess of Ice Cube are traits that make Freddie Gibbs extremely versatile in his craft.

While Washington has had its share of “festivals” – Trillectro, Sweetlife, Virgin Mobile Fest – we’ve never, until this past weekend, really had something that’s specifically for D.C.

Staged in West Potomac Park adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial, the inaugural Landmark Music Festival brought the scale, along with the uniformity, of other more seasoned fests like Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza. That’s not surprising, as Landmark was thrown with veteran production company C3, now the third-largest production company in the U.S., working in conjunction with the Trust for the National Mall, who aims to fund their ongoing Landmark Campaign.

The National Mall faces more than $400 million in deferred maintenance on top of hundreds of millions of dollars in needed updates and sustainable improvements. Landmark Music Festival is helping us to build awareness and raise funds to meet the needs of our country’s most iconic, beloved and visited national park. – Landmark Trust’s MacKenzie Babb

The hope, of course, is that the iconic, beloved draw of the park itself will transfer completely to an event that is eventually regarded in much the same light. That's a mission that even the most jaded of music fans SHOULD be able to get behind, and as to the future success of the Landmark Festival, that remains to be seen. This year though, this is how things shook out.